This invention relates primarily to a live or electronic video number game, and more particularly to a live or electronic video number game, such as Keno games, Roulette games, Dice games or Lottery games in which the player wagers on whether the lowest number drawn will be a high number or whether the highest number drawn will be a low number.
Many states offer lottery games. While these state lottery games have taken many forms, the traditional lottery game involves a player selecting six numbers from a pool of fifty total numbers. After the player makes his selection, the operator of the lottery selects six numbers from the total pool of numbers. The player wins or loses based on the quantity of matches between the numbers selected by the player and the numbers selected by the operator. The player can win very large payouts for correctly picking all six winning lottery numbers.
Other lottery schemes involve picking more or less than six numbers and the size of the total pool of numbers can be more or less than fifty numbers. The drawing of the winning numbers can be done on a periodic basis, such as once a day or once a week. Alternatively, some lottery states offer instant lottery games in which the player picks three or four numbers and, using a computer with a random number generator, a quick pick of winning numbers is done concurrently with the player""s number selection and the player knows immediately if he has won or lost.
The drawback to the conventional lottery game is that the player can only win if he matches the numbers selected by the lottery operator. The mathematical probability of the player winning is quite low and most plays are losing plays (which apparently is the appeal of lotteries to state governments which typically set the payouts so that 50% or more of the money wagered by the players is kept for the state treasury).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,089 (Wood) (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein) describes a lottery summing game in which the numerical total of the numbers drawn in a lottery game is summed and the player wagers on what the numerical total will be. The player is provided with a wagering slip upon which the player marks which numerical totals the player thinks the selected lottery numbers will total. The wagering slip shows various winning number groups from which the player may select one, some or all of the wagering number groups with each wagering number group requiring a separate wager. Each wagering number group has its associated payout odds.
As disclosed in this patent, the pool of lottery numbers range from 0 to 9 and there are three groups of lottery numbers, with one number being drawn from each group. The three lottery numbers are drawn and the numerical value of the drawn lottery numbers is totaled. This final sum total is then compared to the player slips and any player who has selected the correct final sum total is a winner. A winning player is awarded odds based on the amount of his wager depending on what the final sum total is. The odds range from 250-for-1 down to 1.75-for-1. Other betting possibilities are disclosed, such as wagering that all three numbers are odd; all three numbers are even; two numbers are odd and one number is even; or two numbers are even and one number is odd.
The drawback of this method of play in the Wood ""089 patent is that the player is limited to a very narrow range of possible winning combinations and the pool of numbers from which the winning numbers are drawn is quite small.
Conventional keno games are similar to lottery games. In keno games, the number pool usually has eighty numbers and twenty numbers are drawn. The player preselects from one to twenty numbers and the player wins based on the number of matches achieved by the player.
The drawback to the conventional keno games is that the player can only win if he matches a minimum number of his preselected numbers. The mathematical probability of the player winning is quite low and most plays are losing plays.
Likewise, conventional roulette games use a number grid having betting areas for the numbers 1 through 36 and either a single zero or both a single zero and a double zero. After the wagers are made, the roulette wheel is spun and a single number is selected. Again, the chances of winning are quite small as the player must have wagered on one of the betting areas that corresponds to the number selected by the roulette game operator.
The method of the present invention can be applied to any of the many number wagering games that involve selecting multiple numbers either in a single round of play or over the course of two or more rounds of play.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved wagering game that offers the player the opportunity to win large payouts depending on what the lowest or highest number may be when all of the numbers have been drawn.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide that a player may select that the lowest of the selected numbers may be a high number or the highest of the selected numbers may be a low number. If the player has correctly selected high or low, the player receives a payout with the amount of payout varying depending on how low the highest number is or on how high the lowest number is. This feature can be incorporated into any conventional game that selects more than one number either in a single round of play or over two or more rounds of play and the player can be awarded this additional payout in conjunction with any normal payouts that the player may win during the conventional number game. The player may engage in this high/low feature of a number game without having to make an additional wager, aside from the wager the player makes to participate in the conventional number game. Alternatively, the player can be required to make a second wager to be eligible for this high/low feature in addition to the conventional first wager to participate in the number game. Still as another alternative, the player may simply wager on the high/low game and not play in the regular number game.
It is an advantage of the present invention that a number game will be enhanced by this new and exciting feature and that the player can win a payout based on whether the lowest of the selected numbers is high or on whether the highest of the selected numbers if low. This will increase participation in the number games offered by the casino operator.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.
In connection with a game of chance in which numbers are selected, a player may choose that the lowest of the selected numbers may be a high number or the highest of the selected numbers may be a low number. If the player has correctly chosen xe2x80x9chighxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clowxe2x80x9d, the player receives a payout with the amount of payout varying depending on how low the highest number is or on how high the lowest number is.
This feature can be incorporated into any conventional number game that selects more than one number either in a single round of play (such as a Keno game or a Lottery game) or over two or more rounds of play (such as a Roulette game or a dice game such as Craps). The player can be awarded this additional payout in conjunction with any normal payouts that the player may win during the conventional number game. The player may engage in this high/low feature of a number game without having to make an additional wager, aside from the wager the player makes to participate in the conventional number game. Alternatively, the player can be required to make a second wager to be eligible for this high/low feature in addition to the conventional first wager to participate in the number game. Still as another alternative, the player may simply wager on the high/low game and not play in the regular number game.